Network management method and system

ABSTRACT

A network management method which can provide a reduced number of communication transactions is disclosed. A processing object is recursively created for accessing a child managed object included in a parent manage object based on the tree structure. The information obtained by a child processing object is recursively returned to a parent processing object based on the tree structure. A collection of information received by the top managed-object instance is returned to the network manager. A network element device is added as a managed object to the network by the collection of information is stored in a managed-object instance corresponding to the network element device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention generally relates to a network managementsystem, and in particular to a network management system and method forobtaining and setting the configuration information of a plurality ofmanaged objects that are network elements.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] In general, a network management system preferably employs ahierarchical management strategy to efficiently manage a networkcomposed of a number of network elements including modems, terminals,transmission devices, switches and the like. Actually, the networkelements are managed by using virtual managed-object data instances,which are hierarchically organized into a tree structure for networkmanagement. Using such a tree structure, the network operator can easilyidentify each managed object to perform desired access processing suchas setting of necessary information and collection of managementinformation.

[0005] A management information storage device which is designed toreduce the number of retrieval operations has been disclosed in JapanesePatent Unexamined Publication No. 5-191407. The number of retrievaloperations for each managed object is counted. If the number ofretrieval operations for a managed object exceeds a predetermined value,then the identification name of that managed object is registered. Whena management application requests the retrieval operation of theregistered managed object, the registered information of that managedobject is sent directly to a management interface without theintervention of the management application. This causes the number ofretrieval operations for the managed object that has-been accessed atfrequent intervals to be lowered, resulting in the reduced burden on themanagement application.

[0006] In the case where a managed object includes a plurality of childobjects of its own, however, it is necessary for an operator terminal toget access to each of the child objects included in the targeted managedobject based on the tree structure, resulting in the increased amount ofcommunications between the operator terminal and a management system.

[0007] Further, in the case where a new network element is added to thenetwork, the conventional management system cannot handle such a changedynamically because the management operator must create a managed-objectinstance for that added network element using the tree information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a networkmanagement method and system which enables obtaining access to a managedobject including a plurality of child objects to obtain and set theconfiguration information thereof with the reduced number ofcommunication steps.

[0009] According to an aspect of the present invention, a method formanaging a network composed of a plurality of managed objects usingmanaged-object instances which are hierarchically organized in inclusionrelation, includes the steps of: a) receiving an access request to adesignated managed-object instance from a manger, the designatedmanaged-object instance corresponding to a certain managed object in thenetwork; b) recursively creating a processing object for accessing amanaged object included in the designated manage object based on theinclusion relation; c) recursively returning information obtained by alower-level processing object to a higher-level processing object basedon the inclusion relation; and d) returning a collection of informationreceived by the designated managed-object instance to the manager.

[0010] A processing object is recursively created to collect necessaryinformation by distributed data processing and the collected informationis sent back to the network manager. Therefore, the number ofcommunication transactions between the network manager and the networkmanagement system is dramatically reduced, resulting in the improvedperformance of the network.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, a methodincludes the steps of: a) detecting addition of a network element deviceto the network; b) creating a managed-object instance corresponding tothe network element device; c) creating a processing objectcorresponding to the network element device, wherein the processingobject recursively creates a child processing object for accessing acomponent included in the network element device; d) recursivelyreturning information obtained by a lower-level processing object to ahigher-level processing object based on the inclusion relation; e)storing a collection of information received by the processing objectonto the managed-object instance to add the network element device as amanaged object to the network; and f) reporting the addition of thenetwork element device to a network manager.

[0012] When a new network element device is connected to the network, aprocessing object for the network element device obtains theconfiguration information of the components of the network elementdevice to automatically create a managed-object instance therefor.Therefore, an easy management operation can be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network management systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the format ofa processing object;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the firstembodiment;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a processing objectin the first embodiment;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure of thenetwork for explanation of the operation of the first embodiment;

[0018]FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a network management systemaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the secondembodiment;

[0020]FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of a processing objectin the second embodiment;

[0021]FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a network element deviceto be added to the network in the second embodiment: and

[0022]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure of themanaged-object instances for explanation of the operation of the secondembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, for simplicity, a network management systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention isschematically composed of a network manager 1, a data processor 2 and amemory 3. The network manager 1 sends a request for management operationto the data processor 2 and receives desired management information fromit. The data processor 2 performs the requested management operationusing the memory 3.

[0024] The data processor 2 includes a managed-object access processor21 and a processing-object controller 22. The memory 3 includes amanaged-object instance data section 31 and, as necessary, one or moreprocessing object 32 which will be created by the processing-objectcontroller 22. The managed-object instance data section 31 stores thephysical configuration information of the network elements to bemanaged, including packages and communication ports, and further thelogical information such as serial registration numbers thereof.

[0025] A processing object 32 gets access to the managed-object instancesection 31 to obtain and write data from and to the managed-objectinstance section 31. The processing object 32 includes aprocessing-object data memory section 321 and a processing section 322.The processing-object data memory section 321 stores the attribute dataof its own and the result data obtained by executing the processing ofits own. The processing section 322 stores the processing contents ofthe processing object 32 to be executed. The details of the processingobject 32 will be described later referring to FIG. 2.

[0026] The managed-object access processor 21 receives a request for theconfiguration information of a designated network element from thenetwork manager 1 and obtains access to the managed-object instantcorresponding to the designated network element in the managed-objectinstance data section 31 of the memory 3. The designated managed-objectinstance performs the processing of obtaining the configurationinformation of its own. Thereafter, if the designated managed-objectinstance includes at least one child instance, it sends a request forcreation of a processing-object corresponding to the child instance tothe processing-object controller 22. Upon reception of the request fromthe managed-object instance, the processing-object controller 22 createsthe processing object 32 corresponding to each child instance in thememory 3. The processing objects created in the memory 3 independentlyperform the processing of obtaining the management information. Itshould be noted that, if a processing object 32 needs to obtain theinformation of its child managed-object instance, a processing object 32is recursively created for each child managed-object instance in thememory 3, which will be described later.

[0027] When a processing object 32 has obtained the necessaryinformation, the processing object 32 sends the obtained informationback to its parent processing-object or the designated managed-objectinstance and, thereafter, is deleted from the memory 3.

[0028] In this way, it is possible to obtain the management informationof a designated managed-object instance and all the child instancesthereof by recursively getting access to all of them while creating aprocessing object 32.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, at a request of the designated managed-objectinstance, the processing-object controller 22 creates a processingobject 32. The processing object 32 is composed of the followingelements:

[0030] Processing-object ID which is used to identify theprocessing-object of interest;

[0031] Pointer to the designated managed-object instance;

[0032] Pointer to the parent processing object of the processing objectof interest in the case of recursive processing;

[0033] List of child processing objects (here, three objects) createdbased on the inclusion relation of the network elements to be managed;and

[0034] Execution result of the processing object of interest.

[0035] In FIG. 2, the managed-object access processor 21 receives arequest including the kind of processing, the identification (ID) of adesignated processing-object instance, parameters indicating informationto be obtained or set. If the designated managed-object instanceincludes three child instances as shown in FIG. 2, it sends a requestfor creation of a processing object 32 corresponding to the childinstance to the processing-object controller 22. Upon reception of therequest from the managed-object instance, the processing-objectcontroller 22 creates three processing objects 32 corresponding to thechild instances in the memory 3. Each of the three child processingobjects 32 has the same format as the parent processing object 32.

[0036] Referring to FIG. 3, when receiving a request forobtaining/setting configuration information of a managed-object instancefrom the network manager 1, the managed-object access processor 21searches the managed-object instance data section 31 for the designatedmanaged-object instance based on the tree structure (step A1). After thedesignated managed-object instance is found, the managed-object accessprocessor 21 sends an execution request for the designatedmanaged-object instance to perform the processing of obtaining orsetting the configuration information thereof (step A2).

[0037] When receiving the execution request from the managed-objectaccess processor 21, the designated managed-object instance determineswhether the execution request can be filled in itself or needs to accessa child managed-object instance thereof (step A3).

[0038] If the execution request needs to access a child managed-objectinstance (YES in step A3), the designated managed-object instance sendsa processing-object creation request to the processing-object controller22, which creates a processing object 32 in the memory 3 (step A4). Asdescribed before, when a plurality of child managed-object instances areincluded, plural processing objects corresponding to the childmanaged-object instances are created, respectively.

[0039] Then, the created processing object 32 gets access to thecorresponding child managed-object instance to obtain the configurationinformation thereof. The obtained configuration information is sent backto the designated managed-object instance which has requested for thecreation of the processing object 32 itself (step A5).

[0040] When the execution request can be filled in itself (NO in stepA3) or when the step A5 has been completed, the designatedmanaged-object instance obtains the configuration information of its ownand sends the result information including the child managed-object backto the managed-object access processor 21 (step A6). Finally, themanaged-object access processor 21 reports the obtained result to thenetwork manager 1 (step A7).

[0041] Referring to FIG. 4, the processing object 32 created in the stepA4 gets access to the designated managed-object instance to obtain orset the configuration information of the child managed-object instanceof interest and then stores the execution result onto theprocessing-object data memory section 321 (step B1).

[0042] Subsequently, it is determined whether it is necessary to use achild processing object to get access to the configuration informationof a child managed-object instance (step B2). If it is necessary to getaccess to the child managed-object instance (YES in step B2), then theprocessing object 32 requires creation of one or more child processingobject of the processing-object controller 22, which creates a requestedchild processing object in the memory 3 (step B3). Then the processingobject 32 requires access processing of the child processing object toobtain or set the configuration information thereof (step B4) and waitsfor the execution results to be received from all the child processingobjects (steps B5 and B6).

[0043] When the execution results have been received from all the childprocessing objects (YES in step B6), the obtained results are storedonto the processing-object data memory section 321 (step B7).

[0044] When it is not necessary to get access to the childmanaged-object instance (NO in step B2) or when the step B7 has beencompleted, it is determined whether a parent processing object exists bychecking the pointer to parent processing object stored in theprocessing-object data memory section 321 (step B8). If a parentprocessing object exists (YES in step B8), the obtained results aretransferred from the processing-object data memory section 321 to theparent processing object (step B9). If no parent processing objectexists (NO in step B8), the obtained results are transferred from theprocessing-object data memory section 321 to the designatedmanaged-object instance (step B10) Finally, after the step B9 or thestep B10 has been completed, the processing object 32 is deleted fromthe memory 3 (step B11).

[0045] An example of a network management procedure according to thefirst embodiment will be described hereafter.

[0046] Referring to FIG. 5, consider a tree structure including anetwork1 (managed object) composed of a node1 which is further composedof packages pkg1 and pkg2 and a node2 which is further composed ofpackages pkg3 and pkg4. Assuming that the managed-object accessprocessor 21 receives a request for obtaining the configurationinformation of all elements included in the network1 from the networkmanager 1.

[0047] The managed-object access processor 21 searches themanaged-object instance data section 31 for the designatedmanaged-object instance (here, the network1) based on the tree structure(step A1) and then sends a request for obtaining the configurationinformation of the network1 to the network1 (step A2).

[0048] Since the request is to obtain the configuration information ofthe network1, the network1 requests the creation of a processing objectobj1 from the processing-object controller 22 (steps A3 and A4).Subsequently, the network1 requests the configuration information of allchild managed-object instances included therein from the processingobject obj1 (step A5).

[0049] When receiving the configuration information obtaining requestfrom the network1, the processing object obj1 obtains the configurationinformation of the network1 and stores the obtained information onto theprocessing-object data memory section 321 (step B1).

[0050] Since the network1 includes the managed-object instancescorresponding to the node1 and node2, the processing object obj1requests creation of processing objects obj2 and obj3 from theprocessing-object controller 22 (step B3). The processing object obj1sends a request for obtaining the configuration information to theprocessing objects obj2 and obj3 and then waits for their responses(steps B4 and B5).

[0051] Similarly, the respective processing objects obj2 an obj3 obtainsthe configuration information of the node1 and node2 and stores theobtained information. Further, the processing object obj2 requestscreation of processing objects obj4 and obj5 from the processing-objectcontroller 22 to obtain the configuration information thereof and theprocessing object obj3 requests creation of processing objects obj6 andobj7 from the processing-object controller 22 to obtain theconfiguration information thereof. As shown in FIG. 5, the processingobject obj4 obtains the configuration information of the pkg1 and theprocessing object obj5 obtains the configuration information of thepkg2. It is the same with other processing objects obj6 and obj7.

[0052] Since the pkg1 to pkg4 corresponding to the processing objectsobj4 to obj7 are located at the bottom of the tree structure, theprocessing objects obj4 and obj5 report the obtained configurationinformation to the parent processing object obj2 and the processingobjects obj6 and obj7 report the obtained configuration information tothe parent processing object obj3 (step B9). After the obj4 to obj7 havetransferred the obtained configuration information to the obj2 and obj3,the obj4 to obj7 are deleted from the memory 3 by the processing-objectcontroller 22 (step B11).

[0053] When the obj2 has stored all the configuration information of theobj4 and obj5, the obtained configuration information stored in theprocessing-object data memory section 321 is sent back to the parentprocessing object obj1 (steps B8 and B9). After the obj2 has transferredthe obtained configuration information to the obj1, the obj2 is deletedfrom the memory 3 by the processing-object controller 22 (step B11).Similarly, when the obj3 has stored all the configuration information ofthe obj6 and obj7, the obtained configuration information stored in theprocessing-object data memory section 321 is sent back to the parentprocessing object obj1 (steps B8 and B9). After the obj3 has transferredthe obtained configuration information to the obj1, the obj3 is deletedfrom the memory 3 by the processing-object controller 22 (step B11).

[0054] Finally, the obj1 reports the configuration information obtainedfrom all the child processing objects to the designated managed-objectinstance (network1) (step B10). Then, the obj1 is deleted from thememory 3 by the processing-object controller 22 (step B11).

[0055] The managed-object access processor 21 processes theconfiguration information of the network1 and reports it to the networkmanager 1 (step A7).

Second Embodiment

[0056] Referring to FIG. 6, a network management system according to asecond embodiment of the present invention is schematically composed ofthe network manager 1, a data processor 4 and the memory 3, whereincircuit blocks similar to those previously described with reference toFIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and the detailsthereof are omitted.

[0057] The data processor 4 is composed of a device detector 23 and adevice-information access controller 24 in addition to themanaged-object access processor 21 and the processing-object controller22. Assuming that a network element device 5 is newly added to thenetwork, the device detector 23 detects the network element device 5 andinforms the managed-object access processor 21 of the addition of thenetwork element device 5 to create a managed-object instancecorresponding to the network element device 5. At a request of theprocessing object 32, the device-information access controller 24performs the processing of obtaining the configuration information fromthe network element device 5 and then sends the obtained configurationinformation of the network element device 5 back to the processingobject 32 that has requested it.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 7, when the network element device 5 is newlyadded to the network, the device detector 23 detects the network elementdevice 5 and informs the managed-object access processor 21 of theaddition of the network element device 5 (step C1).

[0059] When knowing the addition of the network element device 5, themanaged-object access processor 21 creates a managed-object instancecorresponding to the network element device 5 in the memory 3 (step C2).In this case, the components such as communication and power supplypackages provided in the network element device 5 should be managed. Themanaged-object access processor 21 sends a request for creating aprocessing object 32 corresponding to the network element device 5 (stepA4).

[0060] Thereafter, the processing object 32 sends a request forobtaining the configuration information of the network element device 5to the device information access controller 24. At a request of theprocessing object 32, the device-information access controller 24performs the processing of obtaining the configuration information fromthe network element device 5 and then sends the obtained configurationinformation of the network element device 5 back to the processingobject 32 that has requested it (step A5). The details of the step A5 inthe second embodiment will be described later.

[0061] When the step A5 has been completed, the designatedmanaged-object instance stores the result information received from theprocessing object 32 (step A6). Finally, the managed-object accessprocessor 21 reports the addition of the network element device 5 to thenetwork manager 1 (step A7).

[0062] Referring to FIG. 8, the details of the step A5 will be describedhereafter. Since the steps B2 through B11 are similar to those in FIG.4, the descriptions are simplified.

[0063] When receiving the obtained configuration information of thenetwork element device 5 from the device information access controller24 (step D1), the processing object 32 determines whether thecorresponding managed-object instance has been already created in thememory 3 (step D2). If the corresponding managed-object instance hasnever been created (NO in step D2), the managed-object instance iscreated (step D3).

[0064] Subsequently, the processing object 32 requires creation of childprocessing objects of the processing-object controller 22. Then theprocessing object 32 requires the access processing of the childprocessing objects to obtain the configuration information of thecorresponding components of the network element device 5. Thereafter,the processing object 32 waits for the execution results to be receivedfrom all the child processing objects (steps B2-B6).

[0065] When the step B7 has been completed, it is determined whether aparent processing object exists by checking the pointer to parentprocessing object stored in the processing-object data memory section321 (step B8). If a parent processing object exists (YES in step B8),the obtained results are transferred from the processing-object datamemory section 321 to the parent processing object (step B9). If noparent processing object exists (NO in step B8), the obtained resultsare transferred from the processing-object data memory section 321 tothe designated managed-object instance (step B10). Finally, after thestep B9 or the step B10 has been completed, the processing object 32 isdeleted from the memory 3 (step B11).

[0066] An example of a network management procedure according to thesecond embodiment will be described referring to FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0067] Referring to FIG. 9, it is assumed that a network element devicenode3 is composed of a power supply package and communication packageseach having three communication ports.

[0068] When the network element device node3 is attached to the network,the device detector 23 detects the network element device node3 andinforms the managed-object access processor 21 of the addition of thenetwork element device node3 (step C1).

[0069] When knowing the addition of the network element device node3,the managed-object access processor 21 creates a managed-object instancenode3 in the memory 3 as shown in FIG. 10 (step C2). To createmanaged-object instances corresponding to the packages and the ports,the managed-object instance node3 requires creation of a processingobject 32 for the managed-object instance node3 itself of theprocessing-object controller 22 (step A4).

[0070] The processing object 32 for the managed-object instance node3obtains the configuration information of the network element devicenode3 from the device information access controller 24 (step D1).Thereafter, the processing object 32 determines whether thecorresponding managed-object instance has been already created in thememory 3 (step D2).

[0071] Since the corresponding managed-object instance has been created(YES in step D2), the processing object 32 requires creation of childprocessing objects of the processing-object controller 22 (steps D2, B2,B3). In this case, the respective child processing objects correspond tomanaged-object instances compkg1 to compkg3 (communication packages 1-3)and powerpkg (power supply package) which are included in the node3.

[0072] The respective processing objects for compkgl-compkg3 requiresthe configuration information of the communication package and thecommunication ports included therein from the device information accesscontroller 24 (step D1). Since the respective correspondingmanaged-object instances compkg1 to compkg3 have never been created (NOin step D2), these managed-object instances are created based oh theobtained configuration information of the communication package and thecommunication ports (step D3).

[0073] Subsequently, the respective child processing objectscorresponding to the ports are created (step B3). The access processingof the child processing objects are required to obtain the configurationinformation of the corresponding components (step B4).

[0074] Thereafter, the processing object 32 waits for the executionresults to be received from all the child processing objects for theports (steps B5 and B6). When the execution results have received fromthe child processing objects for the ports, the obtained executionresults are sent back to the parent processing object (step B9).

[0075] Similarly, the processing object for powerpkg requires theconfiguration information of its own from the device information accesscontroller 24 (step D1). After the managed-object instance is createdbased on the obtained configuration information (step D3), the executionresults are sent back to the parent processing object (steps B2, B8 andB9). Finally, after the step B9 has been completed, the processingobjects for compkg1-compkg3 and powerpkg are deleted from the memory 3(step B11).

[0076] The processing object 32 for node3 which has received theexecution results from the child processing objects for compkg1-compkg3and powerpkg reports the execution results of the child processingobjects to the managed-object instance node3 (step B10) and then isdeleted from the memory 3 (step B11).

[0077] The managed-object instance node3 stores the result informationreceived from the processing object 32 (step A6). Finally, themanaged-object access processor 21 reports the addition of the networkelement device 5 to the network manager 1 (step A7).

[0078] In above-described manner, when a new network element device isadded to the network, a processing object for the network element deviceobtains the configuration information of the network element device toautomatically create a managed-object instance based on the obtainedconfiguration information. Therefore, the management operation can bestarted without the network manager creating the managed-objectinstances of the components of the network element device.

[0079] As described above, according to the present invention, aprocessing object is recursively created to collect necessaryinformation by distributed data processing and the collected informationis sent back to the network manager. Therefore, the number ofcommunication transactions between the network manager and the networkmanagement system is dramatically reduced, resulting in the improvedperformance of the network.

[0080] Further, according to the present invention, when a new networkelement device is connected to the network, a processing object for thenetwork element device obtains the configuration information of thecomponents of the network element device to automatically create amanaged-object instance therefor. Therefore, an easy managementoperation can be achieved.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing a network composed of aplurality of managed objects using managed-object instances which arehierarchically organized in inclusion relation, the method comprisingthe steps of: a) receiving an access request to a designatedmanaged-object instance from a manger, the designated managed-objectinstance corresponding to a certain managed object in the network; b)recursively creating a processing object for accessing a managed objectincluded in the designated manage object based on the inclusionrelation; c) recursively returning information obtained by a lower-levelprocessing object to a higher-level processing object based on theinclusion relation; and d) returning a collection of informationreceived by the designated managed-object instance to the manager. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the step (b) comprises thesteps of: creating a processing object storing an identification of theprocessing object, a pointer to the designated managed-object instance,a pointer to a parent processing object, and a list of child processingobjects; and creating a processing object corresponding to each childprocessing object included in the list of child processing objects if atleast one child processing object is included in the list of childprocessing objects.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step(c) comprises the steps of: collecting information from each childprocessing object; and returning a collection of information to a parentprocessing object thereof by referring to the pointer to the parentprocessing object.
 4. A method for managing a network composed of aplurality of managed objects using managed-object instances which arehierarchically organized in inclusion relation, the method comprisingthe steps of: a) detecting addition of a network element device to thenetwork; b) creating a managed-object instance corresponding to thenetwork element device; c) creating a processing object corresponding tothe network element device, wherein the processing object recursivelycreates a child processing object for accessing a component included inthe network element device; d) recursively returning informationobtained by a lower-level processing object to a higher-level processingobject based on the inclusion relation; e) storing a collection ofinformation received by the processing object onto the managed-objectinstance to add the network element device as a managed object to thenetwork; and f) reporting the addition of the network element device toa network manager.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step(c) comprises the steps of: creating a processing object storing anidentification of the processing object, a pointer to the managed-objectinstance, a pointer to a parent processing object, and a list of childprocessing objects; and creating a processing object corresponding toeach child processing object included in the list of child processingobjects if at least one child processing object is included in the listof child processing objects.
 6. The method according to claim 5, whereinthe step (d) comprises the steps of: collecting information from eachchild processing object; and returning a collection of information to aparent processing object thereof by referring to the pointer to theparent processing object.
 7. A system for managing a network composed ofa plurality of managed objects, comprising: a network manager; a memorystoring a plurality of managed-object instances which are hierarchicallyorganized in inclusion relation, each managed-object instancecorresponding to a different managed object; and a processor forsearching the memory for a managed-object instance designated by anaccess request received from the network manger, for recursivelycreating a processing object for accessing a managed object included inthe designated manage object based on the inclusion relation andrecursively returning information obtained by a lower-level processingobject to a higher-level processing object based on the inclusionrelation, and for returning a collection of information received by thedesignated managed-object instance to the network manager.
 8. The systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the processor creates a processing objectstoring an identification of the processing object, a pointer to themanaged-object instance, a pointer to a parent processing object, and alist of child processing objects, and creates a processing objectcorresponding to each child processing object included in the list ofchild processing objects if at least one child processing object isincluded in the list of child processing objects.
 9. The systemaccording to claim 8, wherein the processor collects information fromeach child processing object, and returns a collection of information toa parent processing object thereof by referring to the pointer to theparent processing object.
 10. A system for managing a network composedof a plurality of managed objects, comprising: a network manager; adetector for detecting addition of a network element device to thenetwork; an access controller for accessing the network element deviceto obtain information of the network element device; a memory storing aplurality of managed-object instances which are hierarchically organizedin inclusion relation, each managed-object instance corresponding to adifferent managed object; and a processor for creating a managed-objectinstance corresponding to the network element device and a processingobject corresponding to the network element device, wherein theprocessing object recursively creates a child processing object foraccessing a component included in the network element device through theaccess controller, for recursively returning information obtained by alower-level processing object to a higher-level processing object basedon the inclusion relation, for storing a collection of informationreceived by the processing object onto the managed-object instance toadd the network element device as a managed object to the network, andfor reporting the addition of the network element device to the networkmanager.